Why Priuses annoy me

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bluntguy @ May 22 2006, 10:24 AM) [snapback]259262[/snapback]</div>

Good, then you'll like me. I don't use it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bluntguy @ May 23 2006, 01:24 AM) [snapback]259262[/snapback]</div>

I absolutely gree with you about the carpool lane perk; although we don't have hybrid carpool access in Washington. If we did, I wouldn't use them unless I had a passenger or two. The purpose of HOV should be to reduce the number of vehicles on the highway, not promote one type or class of vehicle over another. If the government wants to encourage high mileage cars, it should tax vehicles by carbon emissions/horsepower or weight.

That said, I think the tone of your email suggests painting alll hybrid owners with the same brush, or to assume that smugness comes with every Prius. The car consumer paradigm is shifting towards higher mileage cars, though, and those who've opted for the highest mileage cars might not be faulted for feeling good about doing that after years of living in an SUV-worshipping culture.

Bob

 

haha...Im glad you are annoyed, it makes me laugh even harder when Im in the lane, alone..pulsing..gliding...and your in your old junker getting frown lines...baha. I got a Prius !

 

bluntguy,

Welcome to PC! We have plenty of room here for differing opinions.

I agree with your opinion that the State shouldn't use HOV lanes as all-purpose rewards. Your gripe, however, is not with hybrid drivers. It's with pandering politicians. 99.9% of us did not ask for HOV rights, although some have bought hybrids to take advantage of the privilege.

The State does have an interest in people switching to high-MPG, low-emissions hybrids. A straight-up $1K rebate would be fine with me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bluntguy @ May 22 2006, 02:25 PM) [snapback]259292[/snapback]</div>

From the CA Legislative Analyst's webpage:
State law declares that HOV lanes are "to stimulate and encourage the development of ways and means of relieving traffic congestion on California highways and, at the same time, to encourage individual citizens to pool their vehicular resources and thereby conserve fuel and lessen emission of air pollutants." Federal law and the policies of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) also encourage the construction of HOV lanes for the purposes of congestion reduction and air quality improvement.

Sure sounds to me like it is about both relieving traffic and emission reduction.

 

PLEEEZE I know plenty of smug drivers and most of them don't drive a Prius. Think 50yr old in a Corvette or 25yr old in monster truck. They have to be smug about something other than lacking anatomy.

I don't agree with the HOV Hybrid rules, Hybrids don't reduce traffic or congestion. Since I don't live in an HOV state, it's really not my issue. So BluntGuy good luck with your campaign.

 

HOV lanes were not created to make commuters happier by reducing their commute times. They were created because of the Clean Air Act of 1990. The Federal Government imposed pollution standards in this legislation and required the states make attempts to meet them. Regions where the pollution levels exceeded federal standards were required to implement "Transportation Control Measures" (TCMs) to reduce emissions from "mobile sources". One such TCM is the HOV lane.

So, HOV lanes exist because the Clean Air Act required them, and the Federal Government would assist in paying for them. Their goal is pollution reduction, not happy commuters, other wise it would have been the Happy Commuter Act.

Have you ever wondered why the states had to wait until Congress approved single-occupant hybrids in HOV lanes before the states could pass laws allowing single-occupant hybrids in HOV lanes? It was because Congress had to acknowledge that HOV lanes that allowed single-occupant hybrids were still considered TCMs under the Clean Air Act.

 

Yea,, I do to I cant get my second one till next year.

 

No HOV lanes near me --
My position is equivacal. Prii do not improve congestion, but improve emissions -- both anticipated under Federal law. My reading is congestion first, emissions second, but that is a matter of interpretation. I guess more than anything I view the entire perk as proving the law of unintended consequences; specifically, encouraging people to drive faster (since they have an open road), and arguably more (for the same reason). I read the other day tha Florida now allows the hybrid Higlander in HOV lanes. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But then, it runs in the family.

I say tax consumption, and let the efficient and inexpensive Honda Fit, public transportation, and carpooling among other modalities take part in the limelight. It is *not* about the tech; it should be about specific results.

 

While I do agree with the use of carpool for single occupancy cars this "perk" is for the most part temporary in an effort help booster the idea of cleaner air alternative vehicles, not an effort to increase the "smug" of hybrid owners. You want to talk smug look at all the SUVs out there with personalized (anything), rims, lights, tv screens, all of that.

But I will use the carpool lane with just me in the car, sorry you don't like it, but hey its a benifit that is given to me for my choice in cars I'm going to use it if there is a need. Personally I think the carpool lanes in the BayArea suck big donkey.. tail... since carpool lanes are classified as have 3 people or more where the rest of the known universe they have 2 people as carpool.

Just keep your anger to yourself and don't express it in violent ways, for the same reason I hate ALL suv drivers for increasing the price of gas (hey it is a supply/demand issue after all right?) I don't go vandelize or try to run SUV drivers off the road.

The only time I really get smug is instances where I'm sitting in traffic not moving and my car isn't using 1 ounce of gasoline while all others around me are, or when I fill up my tank and I happen to look over at a large SUV and see his total cost of gas (knowing also I drove 3x as much as he did too!)

 

NJ doesn't have a whole lot of HOV lanes. The only place I know of is on the turnpike. I don't drive on the Turnpike.

Two main reasons I'm buying my Prius.

1) I'm tired of paying $60+ a week for gas in my Durango.
2) I like the cargo space inside of the car with the seats folded down.

If I need to haul something bigger, I'll rent a truck with the money I'm saving in gas.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bluntguy @ May 22 2006, 12:24 PM) [snapback]259262[/snapback]</div>

You probably shouldn't burn that bridge yet, since the perk (one which many of us don't have anyway) will expire.

I'm not too thrilled about all the guzzlers (those lucky to get 15 MPG and aren't even used for the purpose they were designed) causing supply shortages, which drive up the cost of gas. But I'm willing to wait until hybrids are widely available before saying I hate them.

 

I think HOV lanes are a joke, let everyone use them, all of our tax dollars paid for it so let everyone use it. Here in the DC area during the restriction times it's not even being used to the capacity it could be.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ May 22 2006, 02:57 PM) [snapback]259308[/snapback]</div>

Hmmm, but seeing how Congress changed the Federal law to specifically allow single-occupant hybrids in the HOV lane, how does that affect your "congestion first, emissions second" interpretation?

You also have to ask yourself, why is congestion even considered in the Clean Air Act? To make commuters happy or as a way of reducing pollution? If your answer is reducing pollution, then wouldn't that make emissions the primary factor, not congestion?

 

Folks,

Let's be real.

First off smugness was an option with my Prius. The dealer didn't charge for it so I took it.

Second, you have a right to drive in the carpool lane because the law says so. Do it, enjoy it. Are those that are against driving in the carpool lane also against the tax credit for buying a hybrid? After all, doesn't that eventually make everyone elses taxes higher to make up for it? I'll take the credit and the HOV lane should the opportunity arise. No guilt with either.

 

Dude, get over it. Most of us "smug" hybrid drivers would have bought one without the HOV lane. I lost 2-3 mpg by using the HOV lane but save almost an hour on my commute. I can always buy more gas, time is a finite commodity. If you get the best of both (time and mileage), somebody is always gonna be left out, and pissed. When the laws change, everybody will be happy. Until then, don't whine to us, whine to the people who make the laws.